69236538256563

More documents

Recommendations

Info

It led swiftly to the fourth state. That was the erosion of my trust, where the droplets on my skin turned to acid and began to burn, producing a feeling that was intense and painful, a pins and needles of the mind and the body, and it was so creepy and unsettling that I couldn’t remain still any longer. I got out of Ben’s bed and looked out of the window, and I saw Nicky below in my garden with the dog, petting him, encouraging him to pee. They stood on the soggy, tatty lawn by the abandoned relic of Ben’s football goal, the net broken from the frame in places, the grass in front of it worn from where he’d played. I backed away from the window, not so that the press wouldn’t see me, but so that my sister wouldn’t. And as dusk fell again, wrapping itself around the edges of the day, I ran back through events, until I thought about how I had started the day: the photographer in my garden, Nicky’s anger with him, her outburst on the street, her loyalty. And then I thought about the previous day, and how it had started with an internet search, and with a laptop that belonged to Nicky, that needed a password, and how that password was the name of my son. And each intake of breath felt sharp in my lungs and my mind roved further and I thought of Nicky’s discontent with her daughters, and what Clemo said about her wanting a son. And then I thought of her words: ‘It was as if he was Charlie, reborn.’ I began to cry hot, silent tears, and they had sharp edges just like my breath did, and they ran down my cheeks and soaked into Ben’s nunny which I held tightly to my face. When I heard Nicky’s footsteps on the stairs I got into Ben’s bed, covered myself up, turned away from the door and tried to breathe slowly so she would think I was asleep. When she put her head around the door of the room and asked if I wanted any food I didn’t answer her. When she reappeared some minutes later with a tray of supper I still couldn’t look at her, couldn’t speak to her. ‘I just wanted to protect you,’ she said. She shut the door quietly behind her, respecting my privacy, and all I could feel was a throbbing. It was the pulse of the time since Ben had been missing. And it felt as if it had begun to beat faster.
JIM Email From: Christopher Fellowes To: James Clemo 25 October 2012 at 21:37 Re: Nicola Forbes Jim Good to speak. Fascinating development! I’ll send you a full report tomorrow but, as agreed, here is a précis: Psychological markers for predisposition to sociopathic behaviour in Nicola Forbes might include any of the following: tendency to control; affective instability (which could include jealousy and identity diffusion); unnatural interest in Ben – you’ve already mentioned this as a possible, if father is to be believed. Other generalised signs might include obsessive-compulsive spectrum behaviour (OCSD) and/or delusional beliefs (though these can be well hidden). She’s certainly been quick to be on the scene, which could indicate that she enjoys the attention that the case is bringing the family (just speculation, but maybe an unresolved desire from her earlier experience which was handled so discreetly by the aunt?). There’s more – I’ll follow up asap with a full report. It’ll be with you end of tomorrow, latest. Best, Chris Dr Christopher J Fellowes Senior Lecturer in Psychology University of Cambridge Fellow of Jesus College Email From: Corinne Fraser To: Alan Hayward Cc: James Clemo ; Giles Martyn ; Bryan Doughty 25 October 2012 at 23:06 Blog Warfare Alan We’re in need of your services, as the weird and wonderful worldwide web is once again involving itself in our police work. Could you cast your keen legal eye over this blog please: www.whereisbenedictfinch.wordpress.com You’ll see that it relates to the Benedict Finch case (Operation Huckleberry). I’ve got two primary concerns. Firstly, there could be Contempt of Court issues, should we ever get to trial. Secondly, there’s stuff appearing on there that’s making me nervous because it shouldn’t be in the public domain. We’re concerned that somebody within the investigation (either family or within our organisation) could be authoring the blog or leaking information to it. What I want to know is can we find out who the author of the blog is, the self-styled ‘LazyDonkey’, and what do we need to do to get it shut down? Is that even possible? I’m copying this to DS Martyn and Inspector Bryan Doughty from Internal Affairs.
Page 2 and 3:
Gilly Macmillan grew up in Swindon,
Page 4 and 5:
Burnt Paper Sky Table of Contents A
Page 6 and 7:
JIM BEFORE
Page 8 and 9:
DAY 2 JIM
Page 10 and 11:
JIM
Page 12 and 13:
JIM
Page 14 and 15:
JIM
Page 16 and 17:
DAY 3 JIM
Page 18 and 19:
JIM
Page 20 and 21:
JIM
Page 22 and 23:
DAY 4 JIM
Page 24 and 25:
JIM
Page 26 and 27:
JIM
Page 28 and 29:
JIM
Page 30 and 31:
JIM
Page 32 and 33:
DAY 5 JIM
Page 34 and 35:
JIM
Page 36 and 37:
JIM
Page 38 and 39:
DAY 6 JIM
Page 40 and 41:
JIM
Page 42 and 43:
JIM
Page 44 and 45:
JIM
Page 46 and 47:
DAY 7 JIM
Page 48 and 49:
JIM
Page 50 and 51:
JIM
Page 52 and 53:
JIM
Page 54 and 55:
JIM
Page 56 and 57:
DAY 8 JIM
Page 58 and 59:
JIM
Page 60 and 61:
JIM
Page 62 and 63:
JIM
Page 64 and 65:
DAY 9 JIM
Page 66 and 67:
JIM
Page 68 and 69:
JIM
Page 70 and 71:
JIM
Page 72 and 73:
JIM
Page 74 and 75:
JIM
Page 76 and 77:
JIM
Page 78 and 79:
RACHEL
Page 80 and 81:
RACHEL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS BIBLIOGRAPH
Page 82 and 83:
Author’s Note During the research
Page 84 and 85:
PROLOGUE NOVEMBER 2013 - ONE YEAR A
Page 86 and 87:
imaginary interview goes really wel
Page 88 and 89:
But whether I’ve been awake or as
Page 90 and 91:
BEFORE DAY 1 SUNDAY, 21 OCTOBER 201
Page 92 and 93:
eally honest, I hadn’t noticed it
Page 94 and 95:
‘OK,’ and he was off, careering
Page 96 and 97:
as if the woodland was holding its
Page 98 and 99:
appeared on the path. Our progress
Page 100 and 101:
‘That’s good news,’ she said.
Page 102 and 103:
FM: Do you think that expressing fe
Page 104 and 105:
JC: It was a promotion is what it w
Page 106 and 107:
suspect, is not going to be an easy
Page 108 and 109:
RACHEL John couldn’t stand the wa
Page 110 and 111:
It was the awkward twitch of Inspec
Page 112 and 113:
‘Solid eight hours,’ I said. I
Page 114 and 115:
RACHEL Inspector Miller said that b
Page 116 and 117:
JIM Kenneth Steele House is where I
Page 118 and 119:
had four pairs of officers in place
Page 120 and 121:
at others. He was always watching m
Page 122 and 123:
JIM I was quite pleased with how th
Page 124 and 125:
his parents as well as his grandpar
Page 126 and 127:
‘Expertise is on our side,’ she
Page 128 and 129:
RACHEL My sister Nicky was waiting
Page 130 and 131:
unstoppable. She told me that the w
Page 132 and 133:
the streetlights and the geometric
Page 134 and 135:
JIM Addendum to DI James Clemo’s
Page 136 and 137:
FM: So you recommended Emma for the
Page 138 and 139:
DAY 3 TUESDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2012 Be a
Page 140 and 141:
RACHEL In the car on the way to Ken
Page 142 and 143:
‘If you are the person who is wit
Page 144 and 145:
‘This way,’ she said. She swept
Page 146 and 147:
‘It’s a soft alibi.’ Fraser w
Page 148 and 149:
trace of dignity or vulnerability,
Page 150 and 151:
missing”, and that everybody is l
Page 152 and 153:
looking woman too: nicely dressed,
Page 154 and 155:
‘Were there signs that the arm wa
Page 156 and 157:
accident. But we’ll check it out
Page 158 and 159:
To the insultingly practical: Don
Page 160 and 161:
Page 162 and 163: FM: So apart from the negative pres
Page 164 and 165: they’re focused on the job? FM: Y
Page 166 and 167: DAY 4 WEDNESDAY, 24 OCTOBER 2012 Cr
Page 168 and 169: RACHEL I slept only fitfully after
Page 170 and 171: WEB PAGE - www.whereisbenedictfinch
Page 172 and 173: JIM I spoke to Emma before I left f
Page 174 and 175: say that he doesn’t play by the r
Page 176 and 177: ‘Bye,’ Fount said to him. ‘Wh
Page 178 and 179: thanked her for what she did for us
Page 180 and 181: I sat on the bed for a long time, u
Page 182 and 183: JIM Fraser and I had a pre-meet bef
Page 184 and 185: ‘He’s got an alibi, doesn’t h
Page 186 and 187: RACHEL Nicky phoned the police and
Page 188 and 189: door in the middle of the night. Yo
Page 190 and 191: an orange wash remained. It struck
Page 192 and 193: RACHEL When I got back inside Nicky
Page 194 and 195: JIM On the night of Wednesday, 24 O
Page 196 and 197: DAY 5 THURSDAY, 25 OCTOBER 2012 You
Page 198 and 199: RACHEL I slept the night in Ben’s
Page 200 and 201: individuals closest to Ben, and he
Page 202 and 203: ‘What about their son, Charlie Bo
Page 204 and 205: He took another sheet of paper from
Page 206 and 207: more imperfect than any version of
Page 208 and 209: JIM Addendum to DI James Clemo’s
Page 210 and 211: JC: She said she was knackered. She
Page 214 and 215: Quick response appreciated, obvious
Page 216 and 217: WEB PAGE - www.whereisbenedictfinch
Page 218 and 219: I didn’t know what to say. I look
Page 220 and 221: RACHEL Zhang agreed to come and giv
Page 222 and 223: sensation. Then she spoke to him of
Page 224 and 225: abstract shapes floating within it,
Page 226 and 227: JIM I got one of the DCs to pick up
Page 228 and 229: RACHEL This time, I made no attempt
Page 230 and 231: dog, black and white like Skittle,
Page 232 and 233: FM: I’m not intending to. That’
Page 234 and 235: everything that had happened. But I
Page 236 and 237: JIM We worked closely with John Fin
Page 238 and 239: DAY 7 SATURDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2012 An
Page 240 and 241: RACHEL In the early hours of the mo
Page 242 and 243: school year, but I started to work
Page 244 and 245: tight. A hospital band was visible
Page 246 and 247: cancer himself. The whole family, w
Page 248 and 249: Another page. A different drawing:
Page 250 and 251: ‘The blog.’ I was slow; I didn
Page 252 and 253: told him to fuck off. ‘Tell Frase
Page 254 and 255: ‘Stop asking me to be patient. Ho
Page 256 and 257: JIM In the incident room the blinds
Page 258 and 259: swing. ‘So what are we thinking?
Page 260 and 261: ‘She’s drunk?’ I asked when h
Page 262 and 263:
Page 264 and 265:
JC: Fine. He coaxes his lips up int
Page 266 and 267:
JIM It was Emma who I thought of al
Page 268 and 269:
DAY 8 SUNDAY, 28 OCTOBER 2012 The P
Page 270 and 271:
RACHEL When dawn came there was no
Page 272 and 273:
JIM Nine o’clock Sunday morning,
Page 274 and 275:
RACHEL The hospital receptionist se
Page 276 and 277:
Page 278 and 279:
RACHEL My cab driver on the way hom
Page 280 and 281:
tall bear of a man, with very dark
Page 282 and 283:
‘To be honest, I assumed Nicky wo
Page 284 and 285:
He actually put his hand over his h
Page 286 and 287:
‘Cool,’ my avatar said. ‘New
Page 288 and 289:
me wants you here to run the invest
Page 290 and 291:
I behaved in an arrogant and disgus
Page 292 and 293:
RACHEL I logged on to Furry Footbal
Page 294 and 295:
‘I know it was him,’ I said. Th
Page 296 and 297:
Her handbag was on the seat between
Page 298 and 299:
so that my toes were already numb.
Page 300 and 301:
‘It’s what Miss May said, about
Page 302 and 303:
He sat back down. ‘Again,’ he s
Page 304 and 305:
JIM Nicky Forbes was disturbed by m
Page 306 and 307:
RACHEL It took me twenty-five minut
Page 308 and 309:
here. And then I saw something else
Page 310 and 311:
JIM Nicky Forbes’s expression was
Page 312 and 313:
RACHEL They prised me up off the ca
Page 314 and 315:
Operator: OK. They’re a few minut
Page 316 and 317:
RECORD OF EVIDENCE: AVON AND SOMERS
Page 318 and 319:
RACHEL Bristol Children’s Hospita
Page 320 and 321:
‘Is the child all right?’ Mrs M
Page 322 and 323:
RACHEL I approached my son’s beds
Page 324 and 325:
EPILOGUE CHRISTMAS 2013 - ONE YEAR,
Page 326 and 327:
RACHEL A few weeks ago, somebody as
Page 328 and 329:
that he loved so much in return. Th
Page 330 and 331:
Page 332 and 333:
JC: Yes. FM: Have you seen her sinc
Page 334 and 335:
RACHEL We might never have closure,
Page 336 and 337:
us that. He came to our house and w
Page 338:
BIBLIOGRAPHY The following websites
show all

69236538256563

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?